Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Final
The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 took place on 13 May live Liverpool. The UK is hosting this year’s competition on behalf of the 2022 winners from Ukraine. For the first time, the Eurovision Semi-Final, together with the Grand Final, will be broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Tonight in Liverpool, UK, the final of Eurovision will take place, where the winner of this year’s vocal competition will be announced.
The sequence for Saturday’s final of the Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed after Thursday’s knockout semi-final completed the line-up.
26 performers will perform in Liverpool to an expected worldwide audience of 160 million.
Austria will open the show with a dynamic song by Teija and Salena Who The Hell is Edgar? is a song inspired by 19th-century poet Edgar Allan Poe. May Muller from the UK will close the show with I Wrote A Song.
The UK took over the right to host Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine following the Russian invasion and the victory of the Kalush Orchestra in Turin in 2022.
Zelensky will not appear in the Eurovision final
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be speaking to an international audience of millions on Saturday night during a speech.
The EBU, which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, has long been of the opinion that the contest should be free from politics, and while this year’s event reflects Ukrainian culture, President Zelenskiy’s address was deemed to go against the spirit of the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show that has strict rules and principles that have been established since its inception. Within their framework, one of the cornerstones of the competition is the non-political nature of the event. Zelensky’s request to perform in front of the Eurovision audience, although made with laudable intentions, unfortunately cannot be granted, as it would be contrary to the rules of the event.
EBU spokesman
This is not the first time the president has been denied such a request. He was denied an Oscar in March, and in February at the Italian music festival in San Remo, which selects a Eurovision participant from this country.
Downing Street stated that:
Disappointed by the decision not to allow President Zelensky to speak. A spokesman for the prime minister said he thought the appearance of the Ukrainian leader would be appropriate. The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, they are fundamental, and Eurovision themselves acknowledged this last year when they rightly removed Russia from the contest.
Downing Street
The spokesman added that he had no plans to intervene and ask the EBU to change its mind.
Eurovision co-host Graham Norton told reporters that it was the EBU’s decision. “So we weren’t involved at all, and as you know, the EBU’s iron-fist rule, so they say.”
Fans heading to Liverpool for Saturday’s final have been warned of a disruption to the train strike.
Luxembourg has announced that they will rejoin Eurovision in 2024, three decades after their last participation and 40 years since the country’s last victory.
After each semi-final, qualifying competitors enter either the first or second half of the final – their choice is determined from the bowl.
The big five – France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy and Germany – automatically advance to the final because the host broadcaster is `paid` more.
Last year’s winner also qualifies automatically, and this time it’s Ukrainian TVORCHI.
Once all 26 countries have been confirmed, Eurovision producers and organizers will work through each half to shape the show.
Organizers must also ensure that stage technicians can change the stage setting in less than 60 seconds between songs.
The vast majority of previous Eurovision winners – 43 out of 67 – performed in the second half of the show. The participating teams, known as delegations, always want their countries to be as close to the end of the current order as possible. Viewers may be more likely to remember the song closer to the opening of the voting line than at the beginning of the show, even if they are at an Eurovision party. Second place has become legendary in the world of Eurovision because no group whose song has taken second place has ever won. Could the Portuguese Mimicat change that? Probably no.
The two top favourites, Sweden and Finland, drew in the first half as they advanced to Saturday’s final.
The song Cha Cha Cha by Finnish rapper Käärijä ranks at number 13, which may sound unfortunate, but it essentially closes out the first half.
Loreen – the number nine song for Sweden – is a reference to previous BBC commentator Sir Terry Vaughan who said he would always start drinking at this point in the show.
Why is the UK shutting down the show?
The host nation (usually last year’s winner) always automatically advances to the final, so Ukraine and the UK were randomly selected before the semi-finals.
Ukraine competed for song number 19, and May Muller from the UK got a rare opportunity to close the show on their territory.
Let 3 from Croatia will perform penultimately and `finish` their Y-Fronts performance.
After the end of the second Eurovision semi-final in Liverpool, a press conference was held, at which the turn of the 26 finalists of the song contest on May 13 was determined.
Eurovision 2023: Everything you need to know
Douze points! It’s almost time for Eurovision – so here’s Nina with everything you need to know, in 60 seconds! Eurovision is the world’s biggest international song competition with more than 160 million people from around the world expected to watch the final!
Thirty seven countries will be competing and for the first time in its history viewers outside Eurovision countries will be able to join in and vote for their favourite acts.
Eurovision Grand Final to mix pop and politics with glitzy united show
The stage is set at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool and this year’s 26 finalists have been selected. Ten acts from each semi-final have qualified along with last year’s winner Ukraine and the Big Five countries who fund Eurovision – France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy.
The order of performance of the Eurovision finalists:
1. Austria, Teya & Salena “Who The Hell Is Edgar?”
2. Portugal, Mimicat “Ai Coraçao”
3. Switzerland, Remo Forrer “Watergun”
4. Poland, Blanka “Solo”
5. Serbia, Luke Black “Samo Mi Se Spava”
6. France, La Zarra “Évidemment”
7. Cyprus, Andrew Lambrou “Break A Broken Heart”
8. Spain, Blanca Paloma “Eaea”
9. Sweden, Loreen “Tattoo”
10. Albania, Albina & Familja Kelmendi “Duje”
11. Italy, Marco Mengoni “Due Vite”
12. Estonia, Alika (Alika Milova) “Bridges”
13. Finland, Käärijä “Cha Cha Cha”
14. Czech Republic, Vesna “My Sister’s Crown”
15. Australia, Voyager “Promise”
16. Belgium, Gustaph “Because Of You”
17. Armenia, Brunette “Future Lover”
18. Moldova, Pasha Parfeni “Soarele si Luna”
19. Ukraine, Tvorchi “Heart of Steel”
20. Norway, Alessandra “Queen of Kings”
21. Germany, Lord of the Lost “Blood & Glitter”
22. Lithuania, Monika Linkyte “Stay”
23. Israel, Noa Kirel “Unicorn”
24. Slovenia, Joker Out “Carpe Diem”
25. Croatia, Let 3 “Mama ŠČ!”
26. UK, Mae Muller “I Wrote A Song”
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